


Gormlaith's Revenge

by Otrera



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, North America, Pre-Canon, Seventeenth Century, Wizarding History, Wizarding World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 07:27:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11054184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Otrera/pseuds/Otrera
Summary: Ever since he was a young boy, he has had a recurring nightmare of Gormlaith Gaunt. The dream always begins with the old lady appearing from the depths of the forest surrounding Ilvermorny, wrapped in shadows, her face hidden by a shawl.





	Gormlaith's Revenge

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [thedra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedra/pseuds/thedra) in the [HPprompts](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/HPprompts) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> A story about anything that took place in a magical society, pre-1800.
> 
> I chose to write about the founder of Ilvermorny, Isolt Sayre, and her evil aunt. There is a startling lack of fics about this, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Not too pleased with the ending, but I hope you enjoy it, thedra!

Chadwick Boot liked to think of himself as Chadwick Steward. He barely remembered his real parents, after all, and James and Isolt Steward were as good as any parents he could imagine. At first, when Isolt was nursing he and his brother Webster back to health after a Hidebehind attack, he had called Isolt "Miss Sayre," but when she and James married, he had begun to call her "Mum," and that was that. Now their family had increased by two. They all loved the newborn twins, Martha and Rionach. Chadwick's favourite new activity was holding them. They were adorable, with their tiny bodies all swaddled in blankets and their rosebud mouths yawning sleepily. Chadwick wondered what they dreamed about, because they slept all the time, save for when they were hungry.

He shuddered as he thought of his own dreams for a moment. Ever since he was a young boy, he has had a recurring nightmare of Gormlaith Gaunt. The dream always begins with the old lady appearing from the depths of the forest surrounding Ilvermorny, wrapped in shadows, her face hidden by a shawl. She drew her wand, a gnarled stick of wood with a dragon heartstring core, from her robes. Cackling as she did so, she pointed it in the direction of Isolt and James. A green flash of light h them both, and they were dead before they hit the floor. Webster screamed and clung to their bodies. Flash! He was dead. Martha and Rionach started crying. Flash! They were dead.

Gormlaith's cackling drilled into Chadwick's brain, made his ears bleed. He sank to the ground, clutching his head and sobbing. Gormlaith slowly lowered her shawl and revealed her face. She was horrible, with a crooked nose and warts and her eyes bulging out of her decrepit face. Her laugh was almost a scream as she pointed her wand at him. Green light flashed before his eyes, and he woke in a cold sweat.

Chadwick had never actually seen Gormlaith before. He'd only heard stories from Isolt, even though the stories weren't actually meant for his ears. Isolt had been telling James the reason she'd left Ireland to come to the New World, and her horrifying Aunt Gormlaith was that reason. Like most young boys, Chadwick had a bad habit of eavesdropping, and that was when the nightmares began.

But the figure he saw through his window was no dream. Gormlaith was actually here.

"Webster!" Chadwick hissed at his brother's sleeping form. He shook him. "Webster, wake up!"

"Uunnngh," Webster moaned, batting him away.

"Webster, this is an emergency!" Chadwick yanked the blankets off Webster's bed.

Webster's eyes snapped open. He sat up and glared at his brother. " _What_ , Chadwick?"

"Go wake Mum and Dad, tell them Gormlaith is here. Now, Webster!"

"Who is -"

" _Now_ , Webster!"

Webster scrambled out of bed and down the hall.

Chadwick gripped his wand tightly in his hand. He ran to the front door and was about to turn the knob when he stopped. His fear of Gormlaith warred with his need to protect his family, but then he thought of his delicate baby sisters and his headstrong little brother and the man and woman who had become like parents to him, and his fear of Gormlaith lost. He turned the doorknob and ran out into the yard.

Gormlaith seemed startled by his appearance. "Well, well, well," she sneered, reacting quickly, "who are you? A little boy all alone, lost in the forest?"

"You leave my family alone!" he shouted. The words seemed too loud for the silent woods.

Gormlaith twisted her mouth in disgust. "Don't you talk to me in that tone, _boy_." She drew her wand and, almost casually, cast a curse in his direction.

Chadwick parried it excellently, and Gormlaith's eyes widened. She shot another spell his way, and they began to duel. Gormlaith cackled and taunted him, shouting for him to prove his lineage. "If you are pureblood, I might be persuaded to spare your life!"

Chadwick was terrified out of his mind. He'd practiced duels, of course, with his mother and the other students of Ilvermorny, but never had he truly had to fight for his life. Curse flew at his face without any hesitation, so he had no choice but to react instinctively.

A shout drew both Chadwick's and Gormlaith's attention. Webster, his little baby brother Webster, was running toward them, waving his wand.

"What did you do to our parents?" he screamed. "You blasted fiend, you!"

Their duel resumed, now two against one. The odds were in the brothers' favour, yet Gormlaith still cackled and drove them back toward their little stone cottage. The Windows shattered and the door exploded into a million tiny pieces. Upstairs, Martha and Rionach awoke and began to cry. Shortly after, they heard a thump and their mother shouting.

"No!" gasped Gormlaith. "Not possible!" She dispatched Webster with a simple flick of her wand.

"Webster!" cried Chadwick in anguish, but he didn't have the time to reach his brother before he, too, collapsed on the floor, and his vision faded to black.

* * *

 

"Chadwick? Chadwick, darling, can you hear me?"

 _Yes_ , he tried to say, but his tongue refused to cooperate, so it came out more like a groan. Then, without any warning, bile rushed up into his throat and he was leaning over and vomiting on the ground.

"Disgusting," grunted an unfamiliar voice. "Just because I saved your life doesn't mean I'm your stable hand, Isolt, so don't expect me to clean that up."

"Hush, William."

Chadwick slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position and opened his eyes. His mother was sitting near him, holding a twin in her arms and watching him with concern. His father stood nearby, holding the other twin.

"Where's Webster?" Chadwick slurred out.

"He is safe," his mother assured him. "He is sleeping. We are all safe."

"Good," he mumbled. "Tell me what happened later?"

"Of course, dear."

Chadwick fell asleep, happy in the knowledge that his family was safe and alive. He could boast later, when he hadn't just thrown up his innards.


End file.
